Paulie G.’s attitude, behavior, and writing deteriorates to such an extent that the perennially sunny Valerie can no longer turn the other cheek. Mayhem ensues. This episode and its brutal fallout is captured for the cameras and aired on the first episode of Valerie’s reality show, turning it into a surprise hit. And Valerie scores a long-cherished return engagement on Leno.
In the first season (and ultimately the series’) finale, Cherish has reclaimed the spotlight and triumphed over Paulie G., her co-stars’ youth, and most importantly the entertainment industry’s hostility and indifference toward all but a handful of female performers over the age of forty (on this topic, see also Entertainment Weekly’s October 2006 special report on why and how “Hollywood Doesn’t Give a Damn About Women”). Wish the same could be said for Kudrow and her show. But viewers will never learn what happens next as the plug was pulled on The Comeback. In an ironic twist of faux reality mirroring reality, actress Malin Ackerman—who played Juna, the twenty-something break-out rock-star-turned-sitcom-star of Room and Bored, whose success both mirrored and mocked her mentor Valerie—has since the demise of The Comeback landed a new, recurring role on Entourage.
Only in Hollywood.
